Article
Too Much Familiarity! The Developmental Path of the Fluency Heuristic in Children
Child Development
(2020)
Abstract
We tested whether changes in attribution processes could account for the developmental differences observed in how children’s use fluency to guide their memory decisions. Children ranging in age from 4 to 9 years studied a list of familiar or unfamiliar cartoon characters. In Experiment 1 (n = 84), participants completed a recognition test during which the perceptual fluency of some items was enhanced using a prime. In Experiment 2 (n = 96), participants completed a source recollection judgment on their recognition decisions. Primed items were recognized at a higher rate than unprimed items. However, while young children rely on fluency for all items, older children use fluency only for unfamiliar items. This pattern came together with a reduction in familiarity‐based—but not recollection‐based—memory responses.
Disciplines
Publication Date
August 18, 2020
DOI
10.1111/cdev.13449
Citation Information
Marie Geurten, Sylvie Willems and Marianne E. Lloyd. "Too Much Familiarity! The Developmental Path of the Fluency Heuristic in Children" Child Development (2020) ISSN: 0009-3920 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/marianne_lloyd/23/